The night vision device has the advantages of clear imaging, light weight, compact structure and high sensitivity. It can adapt to the sudden light on the battlefield in a short time, and is deeply loved by soldiers and military fans.

When it comes to night vision, it can be traced back to the latter part of the Second World War. At that time, in order to meet the needs of night combat, the German army developed an active infrared night vision system for the Leopard tank. Use infrared light to illuminate the target and get a clearer image. The disadvantages are large size, high energy consumption and inconvenience to carry. After the end of World War II, the U.S. military launched an improved version on this basis and put it into battlefield use, but it was eliminated due to too great a defect.

Since then, researchers have got rid of the practice of using infrared light to illuminate targets to achieve night vision, and seek night vision by amplifying natural light (such as moonlight, starlight, and atmospheric glow).Under the guidance of this idea, in the 1960s, the US military developed an image intensifier with a low-light brightness gain of 10,000 times, and gave birth to the first generation of low-light night vision equipment.

The weight and volume of the first-generation low-light night vision device are smaller than infrared night vision devices, but the imaging effect is better. However, this night vision device has a fatal weakness: it will "flash without bright" when exposed to strong light. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the U.S. Army quickly introduced the second generation of low-light-level night vision. Compared with the first-generation device, the second-generation low-light night vision device has a smaller appearance and is more convenient to carry. More importantly, it overcomes the halo phenomenon. Night vision equipment does not need to worry about being "blinded" by strong lights in battle. Danger.

In the 1980s, the third generation of low-light-level night vision devices appeared. The representative equipment is AN/PVS-14, which is currently the most widely used personal night vision equipment by the American Infantry Company. Compared with the second-generation device, the third-generation low-light night vision device has six times higher sensitivity, three times the service life, twice the visible distance, clearer imaging, smaller size and lighter weight. weight. The high-tech and materials involved in the third-generation low-light night vision device are only in the hands of various countries, and other countries can only rely on imports.

In the eyes of military fans, there is also a "four-generation low-light night vision device", the full name is "ground panoramic night vision device." The night vision device uses multiple lens tubes to collect images and expands the 45° viewing angle of the traditional night vision device to 120°, which is close to the normal viewing angle of the human eye. Due to the sci-fi design, this night vision device has become a "net celebrity" device. However, compared with the previous generation of night vision, night vision has no technological innovation, nor is it the fourth generation of low-light night vision.

What functions will the fourth-generation night vision device have? Some signs can be seen through several new night vision devices launched by the US military in recent years.

One is the low-light thermal imaging fusion night vision device. The biggest feature of the device is that it can superimpose low-light scenes and infrared heat source scenes, even if it is camouflaged or hidden, people and vehicles can be found. There is also a sturdy and durable foldable binocular/monocular night vision device called "the industry's strongest". The night vision device has the ability of sensor fusion under severe weather conditions, and has a unique holographic display effect, which can comprehensively display various sensor data and transmit the observed scene back to the rear command. In addition, there is a color night vision device. The night vision effect makes the night look like daylight. The scene the soldiers saw was no longer a monochromatic night vision device emitting green light, but was almost exactly the same as the scene seen during the day. Therefore, image fusion technology + sensor technology may be the development direction of the next generation of night vision devices to improve the comprehensive observation capabilities of night vision devices.

After decades of development, our military's night vision equipment has made great progress, but there is still a certain gap compared with Western developed countries. We should keep up with cutting-edge military technology, speed up the development of new night vision equipment, and polish the "eyes" of the troops under the night.